Page 33 of Avenging Azalea (California Made Men #2)

Chapter

Twenty-Five

TITUS

Last night had felt so easy and comfortable.

I had come down from my shower, ignored my phone all night without any guilt, and eaten dinner with my favorite person.

Everything was perfect, right down to Fawn falling asleep ten minutes into the second movie and me taking her up to her room and tucking her into bed.

Winston had been a little unsure about me and what was happening, but he was a good boy and followed the girls.

The sadness in his eyes reminded me too much of Fawn when I first met her, and I wondered if she saw the same thing.

Shaking the happy thoughts that made me long for a different life, I looked around my new office.

The renovations were complete, and I’d even let Levi choose the décor.

I’d told him that as long as there were no fluorescent colors, then I didn’t care what he did, but the number of plants in here was making me regret that decision. It was like a jungle.

Someone knocked, drawing me back to the present. I smiled at Nathaniel when he walked in, not waiting for an invitation.

“Hey, brother.”

“Hey, yourself,” he said, looking around. “I’ve got to say that I didn’t expect this.”

Chuckling, I sat down. “Neither did I.”

“You never said, but how did Dimitri take it when you told him you were leaving?”

I shrugged. “About as well as you’d imagine. He hasn’t spoken to me since, which I’m considering a win.”

Nathaniel smirked. “Fair enough. I do like this taupe or grey color. It suits you.” He waved his finger at the wall.

“That is called smoked almond,” I said, making us both laugh. “How’s Savannah?”

“As ornery as a pissed-off badger. She’s bored and hates feeling useless, but I think I’m annoying her more than the whole being shot thing.”

“You think?”

“Okay, I know I am. She ordered me out of the house and told me not to come back for at least twelve hours, or she was going to smother me in the night.”

Laughing, I sat down at my desk and set out all the items from my old office.

“While you’re here and we’re alone, I wanted to talk to you about your plans to dismantle Mikhailov Enterprises.”

Nathaniel walked over and undid his suit jacket before sitting down.

“What do you want to know.”

“I don’t want you to do it,” I said, and his eyes narrowed.

“Not because of Father. He deserves everything you want to do to him. Those businesses have thousands of employees with families that depend on them, and the rest of our family, who haven’t done anything to you, work there.

Hurting the company puts too many innocent people at risk, and I know that is not your goal.

All I’m asking is that you find a way to attack him personally. ”

“Always the good heart of the family.” Nathaniel sighed and ran his thumb over his lip as he looked at me. “Did Ronan speak to you and ask you to talk to me?”

“We spoke, but talking to you was my idea,” I said.

“Of course, he ran to you instead of talking to me.” Nathaniel shook his head as he sneered in disgust.

“Don’t blame him, not about this.” Folding my hands on the desk, I figured this must be how schoolteachers feel. “Ronan didn’t ask me to talk you out of doing your worst. I see the bigger picture and what an ongoing war will do to everyone. You have to get past your anger enough to see that.”

He turned in his seat to stare out the window.

The setting sun cast orange and pink rays into the room and on Nathaniel’s face.

I could see all the old scars in him as easily as the one on his jaw that stood out in the light.

The beating that caused that scar was the last time Father touched him.

I was only eighteen at the time, but I’d dropped Father to the floor with a single punch.

There were very few times in my life that I’d resorted to violence or threatening someone, but I did that night and would do it all over again.

I watched him as he slowly stood, grumbling under his breath. He seemed to be arguing with himself.

“You’re right. There are other ways I can make him pay. You can tell Ronan that the company is safe unless he comes after me, then all bets are off,” he said, rebuttoning his suit.

“I will, and thank you, but you could tell him yourself.”

“No, I think it’s best if I stay clear of him and Dimitri for a while. Don’t forget that tomorrow morning, we have a meeting at eight, and then I’ll take you out to the new distillery.”

“I get to see the secret distillery? Wow, I feel special,” I said, smirking.

“You should. See you tomorrow, brother.”

Nathaniel walked out, and I went back to work arranging the office. It was twice as large as my last one. A corner with lots of windows and a fantastic view of the water.

It was long past dark by the time the last of my books were on the shelves and pictures on the wall. Maintenance would’ve done it, but I’d always preferred to do this sort of thing on my own.

My door closed, and I spun around to glare at the intruder. I could tell by the look on Vera’s face that I wasn’t going to like why she was here.

“Just so you know, I normally have the dogs here with me. You’re lucky they stayed home today,” I said, picking up two of the empty boxes and walking them over to the pile I’d made for the cleaning staff.

“Good to know. I’m surprised you never called me back,” Vera said and stepped further into the office. “I even showed up at the house, but Fawn said you weren’t there.”

That was news to me.

“If Fawn said I wasn’t there, then I wasn’t. Do you need something?”

I sat down at my desk, and Vera followed, parking herself on the edge. She looked like she was auditioning for a part in an old Dick Tracy movie with the long trench coat and high heels.

“I was hoping we could talk,” she said, sliding around on the polished wood to face me. “I really do need something,” she whispered, her voice husky. I raised an eyebrow when she didn’t say more. “Will you help me?”

“You’ll have to tell me what you need help with first,” I said, but I had already gotten the drift.

I pushed my chair back to stand and put some room between us, but I wasn’t quite quick enough. Vera put her heel in the middle of my chest and pushed me back down.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Moving across the desk, she put one heel on each of the armrests and pulled the tie on her coat.

She wore the skimpiest lingerie that I’d ever seen.

Little strips of material covered her nipples and crisscrossed over her body, leaving nothing to the imagination.

There were no panties, and I was left staring at her bare pussy.

“Vera, we discussed this. I’m not having sex with you until after we’re married,” I said and tried to move away again.

She grabbed my tie and wrapped it around her hand, pulling me closer.

“No, you declared it. I never said that was what I wanted. I’m not a virgin. You don’t have to worry about that, not that my father is aware I’m no longer his little virgin princess. Fuck me, Titus. We don’t need to love one another to enjoy sex.”

She looked down at my lap, and I sucked in a gasp as she reached out to cup me through my pants.

“You have to be as lonely as I am,” she purred, running her hand up and down my shaft.

I didn’t want her, but my body responded to the touch.

“In a few months, we’ll be married. What does it matter now?

Please fuck me, I know you want to. God…

I can feel the size of you,” she said, squeezing me as much as the material would allow.

My emotions were thrown into a blender and turned on high.

There was only one person that I wanted, but Vera was right.

We were going to be married, and regardless of what Ronan said, there was no way out.

The Curators didn’t negotiate, and even if I could, no one knew who they were.

Fawn needed to stay far away from me and this world, now more than ever.

Grabbing Vera’s hair, I slammed my lips down to hers, and she moaned into my mouth.

I pushed aside who it was and closed my eyes.

Hating myself was inevitable, so who gave a fuck when that happened.

Locking my heart up in the cage I’d created, I pushed Vera back and held her arms over her head.

Grabbing the buckle on my belt, I yanked it open, only to freeze when my phone rang.

“Ignore it,” Vera panted as I broke the kiss.

Fawn’s name glowed on the screen where it sat on my desk. Shit. Someone really fucking hated me. Nothing could’ve stopped me faster than her. I stood up, but Vera refused to let go of my tie.

“Let go,” I growled as I swiped my phone off the desk when she reached for it. Her lips pushed out in a pout. I tugged on my tie. “Now.”

With a dramatic sigh, she let go, and I walked away to answer the phone.

“Hey, Fawn. Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know. I’m probably overreacting, but Sheba threw up her dinner. She never does that. I’ve called Dr. Taylor, and he said to bring her to the clinic.”

“Wait for me, I’ll come with you,” I said, tucking in my shirt and doing up my belt.

“You don’t have to.”

“No, I want to. I’ll be fifteen minutes,” I said, glancing at the time.

“Okay, I’m really sorry to bother you.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m coming.” Hanging up the phone, I looked at Vera. “I have to go.”

Marching over to my coat, I swiped it and held the door open for Vera to get out of my office.

“You’re going to leave after one phone call from her?”

“Yes, I am. And I’m happy she called. Don’t do something like this to me again.”

“Excuse me.” Vera put her hands on her hips.

“You heard me. I told you what I wanted, and that is for us to be officially married before we have sex. You tried to get me in bed with you while we were away, and now you have the audacity to come to my office naked. This is a blatant display of disrespect.”

“Well, your cock was on board with my disrespect,” she snapped at me as she stomped past. I snatched her arm and glared into her eyes.

“Don’t fucking do it again, Vera. This isn’t a suggestion. It’s a fucking order.”

I let her go, the burning rage hot in my chest. Truthfully, I was angrier with myself for almost giving in to her advances.

“Fine, you want to wait until marriage, whatever. How about we don’t see each other at all before the wedding? I bet you’d love that.”

I didn’t bother to dignify that with a response because the reality was that I would prefer it. In fact, I didn’t want to get married at all.

Locking my door, I got to the elevator just as it was closing and stuck out my hand to keep it from leaving without me.

Vera crossed her arms and looked away. The ride down was silent and remained so except for the click of her heels as we crossed the large open foyer.

Her limo was waiting outside, and I let her go.

As soon as she was gone, I walked over to the security desk.

“I’m removing Ms. Vilanova’s access to the building.”

“You got it, boss. I’ll strike her off the list of people with unaccompanied access,” the guard said.

“Thanks.” I wished I could ban her from the rest of my life that easily.